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Pinctada margaritifera, commonly known as the black-lip pearl oyster, is a species of pearl oyster, a saltwater mollusk, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae. This species is common in the Indo-Pacific within tropical coral reefs. The ability of P. margaritifera to produce pearls means that the species is a valuable resource to humans.
The Tahitian pearl (or black pearl) is an organic gem formed from the black lip oyster (Pinctada margaritifera). [1] These pearls derive their name from the fact that they are primarily cultivated around the islands of French Polynesia , around Tahiti .
Black South Sea pearls, or Tahitian pearls come from the black-lip oyster; gold and silver South Sea pearls from the gold-lip and silver-lip oysters; and Akoya cultured pearls from Pinctada fucata martensii, the Akoya pearl oyster. Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the closely related winged oyster genus Pteria.
The largest pearl-bearing oyster is the marine Pinctada maxima, which is roughly the size of a dinner plate. Not all individual oysters produce pearls. In nature, pearl oysters produce pearls by covering a minute invasive object with nacre. Over the years, the irritating object is covered with enough layers of nacre to become a pearl.
A black pearl and a shell of the black-lipped pearl oyster. The iridescent colors originate from nacre layers. All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones .
Black-lipped pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera: Pteriidae: Pearl oyster Y Pā [1]: 184 Pteria: Winged pearl oyster Pteria brunnea: Pteriidae: Pearl oyster Y Nahawele [1]: Isognomon: Black purse shell Isognocom californicum: Isognomonidae: Purse shell N Nahawele [1]: 186 Isognomon: Brown purse shell Isognocom perna: Isognomonidae: Purse shell N
There are two different color varieties: the Gold-lipped oyster and the Silver-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest pearl oysters in the world. They have a very strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl" and are important to the cultured pearl industry as they are cultivated to produce South Sea pearls.
Pinctada fucata, the Akoya pearl oyster (阿古屋貝), is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. Some authorities classify this oyster as Pinctada fucata martensii (Gould, 1850). [1] It is native to shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific region and is used in the culture of pearls.